Russellville aldermen, city officials, committee members, fire and police personnel spent a portion of Tuesday not dancing to Olivia Newton-John, but learning about the possible implementation of the city's first physical fitness program for officers and firefighters.

Health Metrics Inc., is a Washington state-based job-related performance company that develops evaluative programs for law enforcement departments around the nation. Paul C. DiVico, occupational physiologist and president of the company, spoke to the city's Personnel Committee as well as police officers, firefighters and Russellville Civil Service Commission members who could attend Tuesday afternoon's presentation at the police department.

DiVico gave an overview of the health fitness test validation and assessment process, one used by the North Little Rock Police Department, Russellville Police Chief James Bacon told council members.

HMI's fee to develop a physical abilities test for Russellville police officers and firefighters is approximately $50,000, aldermen learned, compared to $30,000 paid by North Little Rock in 2004.

Following DeVico's presentation to the council, Alderman Ronnie Tripp said all council members needed to take a little more time to go over the information more thoroughly. He said the physical fitness program would not be brought up for a vote at the April 20 meeting.

"We want our police officers and firefighters to be physically fit," Mayor Raye Turner said. "In the city's history, we haven't had a physical fitness program because of the legal issues involved."

Tripp said the next Personnel Committee meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. May 9 at City Hall, prior to the council's Finance Committee and agenda preparation meetings.

In December, 2004, Health Metrics Inc. (HMI) commenced its intensive study to determine a recommended standardized physical abilities test for all North Little Rock officers. The company developed the test by conducting a comprehensive analysis of job tasks determined through interviews, on-site work observations and department-wide surveys. Survey topics included everything from an officer's daily activities to an officer's most arduous on-the-job task.

According to City & Town, the Arkansas Municipal League's monthly magazine, research and analysis were boiled down to six tasks every officer should be able to perform: spring, stair climb, physical restraint, pursuit run, victim rescue and trigger pull. To assess how quickly officers should be able to perform the six tasks, JMI created a physical abilities course.

That course begins with a 10-yard straight sprint to two traffic cones -- placed 10 feet apart -- that the subject must weave through five times before sprinting 50 feet to a training tower. Once in the tower, each officer must ascend four flights of steps and then backtrack the four flights, touching every step on the way down.

Just outside the tower is a physical restraint machine, which acts as a sort of one-man tug-of-war. A nearly 100-yard pursuit run follows, with a victim rescue simulation -- where each officer must drag a 170-pound mannequin 30 feet -- right after that. Finally, each officer must point a gun through a nine-inch metal ring and pull the trigger 12 times with the dominant hand and 11 times with the secondary hand, holding the gun steady throughout.

Masked officers were videotaped running the course. The tape was shown to a panel of North Little Rock officers. The masks were in place, according to the magazine, to prevent gender or age bias. The time decided to complete the course was 3 minutes, 54 seconds, a time one lieutenant said was reasonable and 90 percent of the officers successfully finished in.

The department is drafting an implementation process for officers who do not pass the test. They will be given several opportunities to pass. Newcomers, however, will be required to pass the physical abilities test before being hired, a requirement becoming more common around the nation.